Heavy Rain in the Mid-Atlantic; Severe Thunderstorms in the Northern Plains; Critical Fire in the West

Locally heavy rain and flash flooding will be possible today into tonight near the Mid-Atlantic/Carolina coast. Storms with large hail and severe wind gusts are expected across parts of the central and northern Plains into the upper Mississippi Valley. Dry thunderstorms, and warm, dry, and windy conditions will produce fire weather conditions in parts of the Great Basin and northern Rockies. Read More >

Summary

A series of supercell thunderstorms swept across the Mid-South and Southeast states on February 5-6, 2008. The storms produced multiple tornadoes across Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, causing at least 50 fatalities and many more injuries (additional information on the weather pattern that produced these storms).

Storm surveys were completed on two significant tornadoes that occurred within the NWS Huntsville area of responsibility (all times specified are based on radar estimates):

Lawrence and Morgan Counties, Alabama: EF-4 (approximately 3:00 AM to 3:20 AM)
Jackson County, Alabama: EF-4 (approximately 5:17 AM to 5:34 AM)

Two additional weaker tornadoes were found to have occurred:

Marshall County, Alabama: EF-1 (brief touchdown at approximately 4:45 AM)
Cullman County, Alabama: EF-0 (brief touchdown at approximately 4:00 AM)

Tornado Tracks

The two tornado paths are marked on the map of the Huntsville county warning and forecast area (CWFA) below. Click on the affected county for more information about the tornado, including damage pictures, estimated wind speeds, and EF scale ratings.